To see the other winners and see a video about Magnum Feedyard go here.

WIGGINS — Magnum Feedyard looks like an ordinary feedlot when people pass by on Morgan County Road 1.

Cattle roam the pasture with young calves, and there's continuous mooing, which sounds like a phone vibrating on a wooden desk during an incoming call.

It's what you don't see and hear, however, that earned Magnum Feedyard the 2017 Feedyard Award by Beef Quality Assurance, a national award given to only one feedlot per year.

Chances are good you've eaten beef raised on the feedyard, as JBS in Greeley utilizes Magnum to feed livestock.

Five years ago, management decided to take a closer look at the operation, said owner Steve Gabel of Eaton. There wasn't anything management felt it was doing wrong, but in a meeting the team decided it wanted to work to improve the little things, instead.

"The things we do on a day-to-day basis are in the best interest of the cattle," Gabel said.

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Some of the changes included recording the temperature of the room where medicine is stored, tracking when manure is put in and taken out of pens and removing the use of hot sticks when moving cattle.

Mostly, the changes were small and tedious. But there were bigger, technological advances, as well.

The feedyard now uses electronic stethoscopes, for example, to evaluate the respiratory systems of the cattle. This allows for more accurate diagnoses of respiratory diseases, said Libby Bigler, beef quality coordinator for Colorado.

Bigler nominated the feedyard for the award, as she saw the big and small things the company does to go above and beyond the average feedyard.

Gabel's wife, Audrey, does accounting and human resources for Magnum. She was the one Gabel credits for helping with organizing and enhancing the operating procedure changes the company started to put together.

She was pivotal in figuring out how to best implement the changes.

Without her, Gabel said, there could have been a lot of hiccups.

But even with all the changes, there is one improvement the company hasn't quite figured out yet: telling the story of the food.

Consumers want to know not only where their food comes from but how the animal is treated and about the company that works with it.

"We've got a great story to tell," Gabel said.

Gabel took over Magnum in 1994. He worked there for a year before that.

He started with about 5,500 head of cattle, and now the operation works with about 22,000 head, with cattle coming from as far away as Louisiana.

Part of what makes the company unique, according to Bigler, is Gabel wasn't raised on the feedyard. His family didn't own it beforehand. Buying the company was a risk.

But the award is a result of building and growing the company his way. Part of that includes getting his family involved.

Their son and daughter work with the company. Their daughter, Christie, helps with the veterinary side of the business, and their son, Case, is in charge of cattle procurement.

"It's very rewarding for us personally (having the family work together)," Gabel said.

— Samantha Fox covers agriculture for The Tribune and is a reporter for The Fence Post. She can be reached at (970) 392-4410, sfox@greeleytribune.com or on Twitter @FoxonaFarm.

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To see the other winners and see a video about Magnum Feedyard go here.